A Distant Episode

Paul Bowles is well-known for having been an admirer of the work of Edgar Allan Poe. What aspects of “A Distant Episode” reflect Poe’s influence? You may wish to discuss elements like plot, themes, tone, genre, and literary techniques and devices.

To what extent does the story hold the professor responsible for the events that happen to him? What does this suggest?

By the time that “A Distant Episode” was written in 1947, Algeria had been a French colony for more than a century and had already been incorporated as an official part of France. The French presence in Algeria plays a subtle but significant role in the story. What commentary does Bowles seem to be making about the French colonial project in his story? How can the story be read as a colonial story? How can the story be read as a critique of colonialism?

The qaouaji (café attendant) is perhaps the most mysterious and striking character in the story. What is Bowles attempting to communicate in his portrayal of the character? Is he an antagonist? If not, how might his role in the story be characterized?

Two years after the publication of “A Distant Episode,” Bowles published The Sheltering Sky (1949), a breakout novel with similar plot points. What other similarities do the two stories share? What themes do the two stories have in common? Is there a common message or moral to both stories?

“A Distant Episode” can be read as a horror story. In what ways is “A Distant Episode” distinct from a traditional horror story? What other genres might apply to the story?

To what extent is “A Distant Episode” an Orientalist story? Can it be described as a story that has Orientalist ideas and tropes, or can it be said to subvert them?

The desert is one of the most prominent symbols in both the story and Bowles’s work generally. What role does the desert play in this story? How would you compare Bowles’s use and characterization of the desert in this story with its use and characterization in other stories by Bowles?